SAAC Plans More Events After Successful Road Race

SAAC Road Race

May 09, 2012

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is looking forward to holding several more events during the next year after putting on the first annual Ring Road Race for Champions.

The event, conducted Saturday, April 22nd to raise money for the Special Olympics, raised more than $300 while generating 88 entries for the race.

"It was awesome to see an event run by students be so successful," said SAAC member Michelle Favulli (Sr. Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsbury HS) of the swimming team. The current President of the SAAC, (sophomore) Chris Jordan (Taunton, MA/Taunton HS) of the track team, echoed her sentiments. "I was proud of the way in which members of all the sports teams were able to come together and work hard towards benefiting our community."

Senior Kim Urena (Marlborough, MA/Marlborough HS) of the track team, the former SAAC President, explained how the project came to pass. "The Little East Conference suggested that every institution develop a relationship with the Special Olympics chapter near us, and that is what we did," said Urena. "At the beginning of the year, we invited our local Special Olympics football team to attend our weekend homecoming football game, be announced at halftime, and enjoy the day's activities. They greatly enjoyed the event and loved meeting all the players. During the winter, SAAC volunteered at the Special Olympics biggest fundraiser of the year, their Jolly Jaunt. We assisted runners in navigating the course and enjoyed assisting. This event allowed us to meet our chapter contact in the Special Olympics, Cory Zarrella. He has been a huge help in making the relationship a success."

Urena said that SAAC hopes to continue the relationship. "We hope to increase donations each year by making the road race an annual event," Urena said. "Overall, we have had a wonderful relationship with the Special Olympics this year, and we hope to continue for years to come."